Stella McCartney Olympic uniforms met with criticism

Friday, 23 March 2012

The long awaited unveiling of Stella McCartney's London 2012 Olympic uniforms has finally been revealed, but not without criticism. The Union Jack inspired sportswear collection was presented at the Tower of London, however fans where quick to post
their comments online.

Needless to say, McCartney's interpretation of the Union Jack flag was not liked by everybody, and Facebook has been rife with criticism. Even the respected Independent broadsheet wrote "for the honour of worst kit in history." Some Facebook fans wrote on the Adidas' page: "If there wasn't "Great Britain" across the top, I'm not sure I would be able to guess which country they're from". Another added, "Hideous. Just strengthens the case for Scottish Independence! Britain is neither great nor united."

Advertisement

McCartney responded to the criticism on Facebook and said: "Thank you for your great points on the Team GB kit. My intention was to keep the language and strength of the Union Flag, but to use it in a more delicate way. If you look at the history of Team GB kits, it is the most prominent use of the flag and the color red since 1984. It's not a conventional way of looking at the flag, but one still interprets it as the Union flag."

About the interpretation of the Union Jack McCartney said: "Working on the kit was not about being a fashion designer - I was also aware of the fact that it's something that might be overused in the build-up to the Olympics, in taxis, on cushions and mugs, so I wanted to do something different with it - but that was still respectful of its beauty. Actually, the colours of the Union Jack are similar to a lot of other flags and the athletes really wanted to feel identifiable as Team GB, so I just used different colours to say the same thing."

"I felt quite emotional watching it," McCartney told Vogue after the show. "I've been working on this for two years now. I felt so proud of the athletes more than anything and it really felt as if, 'woah, this is actually happening now'. It's really exciting and the whole thing is happening in our city!"